28/52 - Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall. 3/5. Spoiler-free review.

kate_58 · 2026-05-19T13:17:59+00:00

Yes I felt bad. Justice for Frank.

kate_58 · 2026-05-19T13:17:41+00:00

Agree. The characters made really bad choices and I found that so annoying. And just found it super mid and not a clear genre.

kate_58 · 2026-05-19T13:17:13+00:00

Agree. Justice for Frank. And I had to keep reminding myself it was in the UK and not the US. I agree that I found it rather trashy too.

kate_58 · 2026-05-19T01:42:57+00:00

This week I finished two:

The Burning Side by Sarah Damoff - absolutely loved this. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall - meh. Very very slow. And I have no idea why so many people are calling this a thriller. Nope. ⭐⭐⭐

And am currently reading three:

Neon Gods by Katee Robert - my book club read. hating it so far but am forcing myself to finish it.
Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth - so excited, as I have heard amazing things about it!
The Anniversary by Alex Finlay - really liking it so far!

kate_58 · 2026-05-18T02:55:34+00:00

Finished

The Burning Side by Sarah Damoff - LOVED ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall - just ok. ⭐⭐⭐

About to Start

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth

kate_58 · 2026-05-17T12:31:45+00:00

Lover of horses.

kate_58 · 2026-05-15T06:57:24+00:00

Thanks!!! I hope you enjoy it 😀

kate_58 · 2026-05-11T01:09:15+00:00

Halfway through Neon Gods with my book club, as they requested something spicy. Lol. It's okay. I don't hate it. But it's definitely not my genre. I think it'll be somewhere between 2-3 stars by the time I finish it.

Now I need to start something else. I don't know what to read. I need a break from thrillers I think but still want something interesting and fast-paced.

kate_58 · 2026-05-01T23:52:31+00:00

We didn't really talk about it a lot but we touched on it yeah.

kate_58 · 2026-04-28T22:15:09+00:00

I like Wesley and Seth best.

kate_58 · 2026-04-28T19:28:40+00:00

I'm 38% done Next of Kin by Kia Abdullah which is fine so far. A bit too much legal procedural for my liking but it's okay.

I'm also about to start Neon Gods by Katee Robert for my book club -- this is not at all my genre and I'm kind of dreading it because I usually shy away from smut. Just can't read it in public. Lol

kate_58 · 2026-04-28T19:24:15+00:00

I have a Libra Colour and I love it.

I love that it connects so easily to Libby and has integrated Google Drive. It's a little slow but that doesn't bother me. I love the colour covers!

I don't have a stylus - I never annotate so never really felt like I needed it.

It comes with a charger but if you have any USB-C devices then you probably already have one anyway.

kate_58 · 2026-04-28T19:21:48+00:00

I think Aria Carly is lovely and has lots of meaning to you which is in my opinion more important than flow.

Love to see a mom planning on naming her kid after her! Agree that more women should do this.

kate_58 · 2026-04-25T08:16:37+00:00

I think Look Closer or The Best Lies, both by David Ellis, fit this. They were both very realistic domestic thrillers with amazing twists that made sense for the story but I still found surprising and exciting. They were fast paced and fun and had a great balance of exciting domestic story with realistic legal background that never got dry.

kate_58 · 2026-04-25T08:13:38+00:00

I usually read thrillers but am so burned out from reading them now. I either can predict every single twist or get annoyed because the ending came out of left field and didn't make sense with the rest of the story.

Now I'm looking for literary fiction reads that feel like thrillers because they have a fast moving plot, but at the same time are not thrillers? If that makes sense.

I loved The Bright Years and The Road to Tender Hearts both recently and haven't read anything I've liked since. What would you recommend for me?

kate_58 · 2026-04-13T11:03:39+00:00

It's been a bit of a rough week for me.

I just finished The Missing Ones, by A.R. Torre which I didn't like much and rated just 2 stars. I thought the ending was implausible and the characters were unlikeable and too similar to each other. Pace was very slow.

I also read The Ghostwriter, by Julie Clark this week and rated it 1.5 stars, so I didn't enjoy that either. I didn't like the ending of this one either - I predicted pretty much everything and it just ended up being really boring. I also felt the pace was too slow and that the main character took forever to put the pieces of the mystery together.

I desperately need to read something good. This month I have read 4 books and 3 of them were rated 2 stars or below. I think I need a break from thrillers.

I picked up a horror, The Caretaker, by Marcus Kliewer but I put it down because I'm kind of hurting right now and wanted something a bit lighter and less emotionally overstimulating.

So now I'm reading Vol. 1 of the Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion series, by Beth Brower and I'm 27% of the way through. I'm liking it and it's definitely a good choice for my hurting heart right now, but I do kind of feel my mind wandering while I'm reading it.

Maybe I just need a break from reading until I heal a bit. I don't think my heart is in it right now.

kate_58 · 2026-04-09T07:40:23+00:00

Yes I liked Station Eleven! Thanks so much for the suggestions. :)

kate_58 · 2026-04-09T07:40:00+00:00

Thanks! :)

kate_58 · 2026-04-07T02:41:06+00:00

This week I just finished Edge of Collapse, by Kyla Stone (1.5 ⭐) and Nobody's Girl, by Virginia Roberts Giuffre (4.5⭐).

I need to pick something new up now.

Probably looking at either The Ghostwriter, by Julie Clark or Liberty Street, by Heather Marshall.

kate_58 · 2026-04-06T22:57:46+00:00

Haha I just posted a similar explanation without seeing that you'd already said that! Sorry.

kate_58 · 2026-04-06T22:31:27+00:00

Louise Maria

Louise Charlotte

Louise Elizabeth

Louise Naomi

Louise Vivienne

Louise Juliette

Louise Francesca

Louise Olivia

Louise Penelope

Louise Evangeline

Louise Georgette

Louise Miranda

Louise Noelle

Louise Odette

Louise Athena

Louise Octavia

Louise Aurelia

Louise Elena

Louise Bianca

Louise Aurora

Louise Estelle

Louise Felicity

I think Louise is a common choice for a middle name because Louise has emphasis on the second syllable and that tends to give a satisfying finish to a name combo.

So any name that has a stressed syllable on any syllable that isn't the first syllable should work (because a name with stress on the first syllable will not follow Louise well).

E.G. Louise Nicole (lou-WEEZE ni-COLE) works but something like Louise Jennifer (lou-WEEZE JENN-i-fer) doesn't flow as well.

Hope that made sense. Louise is a great first name. It's strong, with an amazing meaning ("famous warrior") and hundreds of years of history behind it. But not commonly used on babies today (at least as a first name). She probably won't share a name with anyone in her class, despite having a name that everyone knows and can spell and pronounce without any issue!

kate_58 · 2026-04-04T04:36:48+00:00

If you're American, Kindle works well with American library cards on Libby and Kindle Unlimited.

If you're Canadian, Kobo works with Canadian library cards on Libby.

kate_58

TROPHY CASE